Product Placement: Xander is handing out 'Firefly' sweets to customers at the Magic Box. Is this just innocent candy goodness, or a subtle plug for Joss Whedon's upcoming space western of the same name?

Thar she blows: Giles calls Xander "Ahab" after the obsessed whaling captain in Herman Melville's classic novel Moby Dick.

No ordinary angel: Anya's gone all angelic, but she hasn't sprouted wings. She's a Charlie's Angel. The hit chick detective series of the 70s was recently remade into a smash film, with Lucy Liu, Drew Barrymore and Cameron Diaz donning the starring halos. Tell me, Anya, how do you get down like that?

Mmmm, spicy!: Spike likes to put burba weed in blood to make it "all hot 'n' spicy." He's quite the haemoglobin gourmet - we heard back in Hush that he likes to crumble up Weetabix in blood. "Gives it a little texture."

Happy Halloween: When Giles reminds Buffy that the undead don't usually come out on Halloween, she reminds him of the events of season two's Halloween ("costumes that take you over") and season four's Fear, Itself ("wee little Irish fear-demony thingies").

Howling herbiage: Mandrake root, the item Buffy is sent to get, is a traditional magical ingredient. It was said that the root resembled a person, and would emit an ear-piercing scream when pulled from the ground. This makes re-potting them quite tricky, as Harry Potter fans will have found out in The Chamber of Secrets.

Many hands make frights hurt: "We all know how splendidly that turned out for Mickey," replies Giles to Willow's offer to clean-up magically. He's referring to the Sorceror's Apprentice section of Walt Disney's Fantasia (1940), in which Mickey Mouse ends up in trouble when a magical broom misbehaves.

Tattoo taboo: Dawn may want a tattoo but she won't be getting one, and not just because of Buffy. It's illegal to tattoo anyone under the age of 16 in most US states, and certainly in California. And remember, Dawn, you'll have it for the rest of your life, and you may have gone off The Backstreet Boys by then.

Looney Tunes: The old man's headless Jack-in-the-Box plays Pop Goes the Weasel. Creepily.

Travelling Light: If Dawn was really trying to convince the Scoobies she was sleeping over at Janice's, how come she didn't at least take a bag with a toothbrush and some Yummy Sushi Pyjamas with her?

Car trouble: "You were parking?" shouts Buffy at Dawn. An American term, parking means parking up to make out. That's getting off with someone, to us Brits.